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Monday, October 22, 2007

Now I really need some books

I've posted over at SV Moms about my challenge to discuss religion with my son. First it was our nephew telling him god knew everything, and the other day I was simply reading about dinosaurs during kindergarten reading time, and this sweet and bright little girl somehow managed to work in the story of Adam and Eve into her feedback on the book.

I will admit I'm not totally comfortable around very religious people, and I am facing a dilemma. I've responded to a request for a playdate in my town with a woman who's is similar in age to my son. She's just moved here and is looking for some playmates for her youngest (of 5) kids. She even responded with an offer to keep the kids while my husband and I went on a date. The kicker - her email is iamblessedbygod @ xxxx . xxx - eek! I know, I need to open my mind, but am I setting both of us up for a strained relationship, just when I'm starting to bond so well with parents at our new school?

I'm heading over the library right now, I just hope they've finally got a copy of Parenting Beyond Belief or I'm going to have to shell out some dough.

Are you serious about that 2nd statement? My son is at the state of asking questions about everything he hears, and considering what came up in a public school classroom, I'm not ready to expose the younger one quite yet to relgious talk, if that makes sense.

I do understand the conflict. You probably have no difficulty sending your child to a moderate Christian home, but the username "iamblessedbygod" indicates an evangelical approach. Because evangelical churches specifically require their members to actively evangelize at every opportunity, it isn't a stretch to think that your son might be subject to that.

Here's my approach: Religious talk is only a problem when children hear a single point of view to the exclusion of others. Kids who hear fables from several different mythologies are unlikely to be seduced by any one of them.

Read (with him) Virginia Hamilton's marvelous In the Beginning, which includes 40 brief and gorgeously-illustrated creation myths from cultures and religions around the world. The Judeo-Christian myth is included right along with the rest of them, without special treatment.

A kid who's been through that book hears about Jesus and puts that story right into the context of all the rest of the myths.